"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.”" ~~~~Samuel P. Huntington

History: passed with full consensus at GA on Wednesday 11/23/2011. The language, ideas and grievances contained herein were culled from the minutes of 2 special City Liaison Committee Meetings, 2 General Assemblies devoted to the issue, one meeting with the Demands & Objectives Committee, consultation with Media and PR, and widely circulated and amended by the online community of occupiers, and adapted into its current form by the General Assembly on 11/23/2011. [In Full below the fold]

A sampling of the headlines for today from various MSM and Alt sources...

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I've only begun to read and mean nothing by this comment besides Kentucky has wild turkeys; so viewing the picture: Since when are turkeys white? :-D

Me:

When they're Genetically Grown so they're all tittie and leg (do you suppose it's because men run the agribiz corps?) and live a short miserable life in cages... You can thank Chairman Richard Huisinga from the "National Turkey Federation" (mug shot below) for that. I'm sure ALF would LUV to meet him and deliver your greetings personally.

Obama pardons Thanksgiving turkeys

Obama reprieved a 45-pound turkey called Liberty and an understudy named Peace from the butcher's knife on Nov. 23. The birds will live out their golden years on George Washington's estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Caption for the images that follow:

President Barack Obama, with daughters Sasha and Malia, pardons Liberty, a 19-week old, 45-pound turkey, on the occasion of Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, on the North Portico of the White House in Washington. At left is National Turkey Federation Chairman Richard Huisinga. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

There's just something disturbing about a guy who'll save a turkey's life but have CIA predator drones hunt down the individual members of Islamic insurgent's families and attempt to wipe out the entire familial bloodline (al-Awalaki, bin-Laden, and ex parte, the al-Gadaffi bloodline... for a start.)

Look at that SMILE!You wouldn't know he's responsible for the murder 'under color of international law' of thousands of people around the world who just happen to disagree with US policies and goals for their countries.

The dousing of seated, non-violent students with a chemical agent at U.C. Davis should provoke a call for restraint. These images show their experience is not unique.

[Pepper Spray in use @ #OccupySeattle]

Police dressed in riot gear at U.C. Davis on Friday afternoon used pepper spray to clear seated protesters from the university quad where they had set up a small Occupy encampment, pro-actively and repeatedly dousing the passively-resisting students with a chemical agent designed to cause pain and suffering in order to make it easier to remove them.

[UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike from the RECORDS DEPARTMENT gets his chance to 'kill commies']

It is hard to look at this kind of attack and think this is how we do things in America.

And yet it is all too American.

America has a very long history of protests that meet with excessive or violent response, most vividly recorded in the second half of the 20th century. It is a common fantasy among people born in the years since the great protests movements -- and even some not so great ones -- that they would have stood on the bold side of history had they been alive at the time and been called to make a choice. But the truth is that American protest movements in real time -- and especially in their early days -- often appear controversial, politically difficult, out-of-the-mainstream, and dangerous. And they are met with fear...

«o»Pertinent California Codes & Rulings in re the official use of Pepper Spray:

United States Court of Appeals,Ninth CircuitHEADWATERS FOREST DEFENSE v. COUNTY OF HUMBOLDTo o o"Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the protestors, we conclude that Philip and Lewis are not entitled to qualified immunity because the use of pepper spray on the protestors' eyes and faces was plainly in excess of the force necessary under the circumstances, and no reasonable officer could have concluded otherwise." (source)

California Penal Code Section 12403.7(a)(8)(g):

"Any person who uses tear gas or tear gas weapons except in self-defense is guilty of a public offense and is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, or two or three years or in a county jail not to exceed one year or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment,"

The code goes on to add further sanctions if, lets say someone knowingly pepper sprays a police officer etc, but the above, based on the 9th Circuit Court's ruling in a civil case ought to go a long way towards convicting ANY official in California who commits, or perhaps even authorizes such an act.

To show us how out of touch with law the average police officer is (and to add to the extensive list of why one should NEVER ask a law enforcement official for legal advice), simply read the words of UC police Capt. Margo Bennett who said:

No. 98-17250.-- January 11, 2002 o o oMoreover, in requiring that the law put a government officer “on notice that his conduct would be clearly unlawful” before he could be held liable for violating the Constitution, the Supreme Court emphasized that it was not insisting that “courts must have agreed upon the precise formulation of the standard.” Id. As we recently noted, a law can be violated “notwithstanding the absence of direct precedent . [o]therwise, officers would escape responsibility for the most egregious forms of conduct simply because there was no case on all fours prohibiting that particular manifestation of unconstitutional conduct.” Deorle v. Rutherford, 272 F.3d 1272, 1274-75 (9th Cir.2001) (citation omitted).

Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the protestors, we conclude that Philip and Lewis are not entitled to qualified immunity because the use of pepper spray on the protestors' eyes and faces was plainly in excess of the force necessary under the circumstances, and no reasonable officer could have concluded otherwise.

California Penal Code Section 12403.7(a)(8)(g): Any person who uses tear gas or tear gas weapons except in self-defense is guilty of a public offense and is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, or two or three years or in a county jail not to exceed one year or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, except that, if the use is against a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, engaged in the performance of his or her official duties and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer...

Professor at the university, Nathan Brown, wrote an “open letter” calling on Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi to resign. The entire letter boldly condemns the Chancellor for permitting riot police to handle students as police did. (source)

His boss, UCD Police Chief Annette Spicuzza, told the Davis Enterprise that she’s “very proud” of her officers. “I don’t believe any of our officers were hurt,” she says, “and I hope none of the students were injured.” (source)

California Penal Code Section 12403.7 (a) (8)(g) Any person who uses tear gas or tear gas weapons except in self-defense is guilty of a public offense and is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, or two or three years or in a county jail not to exceed one year or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, except that, if the use is against a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, engaged in the performance of his or her official duties and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months or two or three years or by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

The #OccupySantaCruz General Assembly achieved consensus this afternoon to kick the legal 'football' into federal court, with filing fees already voted and appropriated, to seek relief from a Santa Cruz city injunction against their city park encampment, on undisclosed evidence, presented in a closed door session of Santa Cruz Superior court after a secret city council meeting.

There MAY BE further consensus on a counter-suit against the city of Santa Cruz California for attempting to violate the first amendment rights (among others) of the people at the encampment considering that legal counsel has informed the General Assembly federal court decisions consistently support camping as an exercise of the First Amendment right to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

We HAVE grievances!

The city of Santa Cruz IS attempting to deny #OccupySantaCruz that right to peaceably assemble, and considering the secrecy of the process that caused the delivery of the injunction, that attempt to deny MAY HAVE occurred under circumstances that could be described as fraudulent, or perjured.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

«o»A brief synopsis using FaceBook wall posts with a few comments and related links thrown in:

"This morning Francis Moore Lappe (world-renowned author of 19 books, including the revolutionary books "Diet for a Small Planet") stopped by Occupy Santa Cruz on her way to San Francisco's Green Fest, to show her support and solidarity with the Occupy movement--especially our local group in light of recent events." [source]

The recent event?

#occupysantacruz support needed! all tents in front of the courthouse are being taken down! Come down and show support for the people who have been out occupying, they need solidarity now!

"20 sheriffs showed up in the early morning & the occupy night watch successfully warned all occupiers before they arrived. Tents were taken down after sheriffs began removing tents themselves under the offense of "lodging". 2 tents confiscated, no tickets or arrests. Occupirates put tents on cars to sattiate(sic) threats & followed them back to the courthouse continuously requesting what "lodging" actually consists of. The sheriffs refused to or could not answer." [source]

GONE!

This is the type of tent that was given by local Veterans groups to homeless Veterans.

GONE!

Did you see a 'sanitation or safety hazard in those photos?

Neither did I.

Yet, barring evidence to the contrary these are the kind of photos the city presented after a secret city council meeting, later to be presented in a closed door Superior Court session the other day to garner support for a Preliminary Injunction against the encampment.

Here's a shot of the 'Bench-lands' just around the corner and down the hill from the court house building in the City's San Lorenzo Park near the lovely banks of the San Lorenzo Sewage Chan... I mean 'River'! [snigger]:

Not seeing the 'feces' the city claimed to be littering the ground here.

Albeit some winos absolutely delight in shitting and pissing on the county building and it's attached court house whenever possible (and it's been that way since the first wino walked the Earth in Santa Cruz), there is NO POSSIBLE WAY to say the 'poop & pee' incidents have increased since the campers presence, and it's also quite unlikely, as the encampment has a Porta-Can emptied regularly, and available to all.

Unlike the city park's bathroom.

The warning that was handed out in lieu of arrests or tickets:(click on all document images below for larger copies)

Note the care with which they say they'll handle the #Occupiers personal property.

The city and county are worried about ANY bad PR that could go national or even global if things, for some unimaginable reason, went seriously South.

It wasn't apparent at last year's PeaceCamp2010 demonstration that the sheriffs or the Santa Cruz police department were very concerned with that issue...

...nor did they show concern in their action, with a lot of damaged or 'disappeared' property reported by the protesters. The rest being seriously delayed by the SCPD's property recovery hours. If I remember correctly there were only 2 hours during the work week where the SCPD would arrange to return your property a day or two later.

More information on the California Penal Code 647(e) "Lodging" law, and the PeaceCamp occupation here.

Nevertheless, in spite of the attempts to repress #OccupySantaCruz, we're all expecting a well attended General Assembly today, Saturday, November 12 2010 at 6pm, on the steps of the Santa Cruz County court house.

We gather together as Occupy Santa Cruz in solidarity with the worldwide Occupy Movement. We are individuals committed to promoting justice. We have no leaders. We recognize the right of ALL voices to be heard: our diversity is a source of strength. We present a united front in our non-violent approach to addressing the problems we face and generating solutions beneficial to all. Please join us in creating a better world. We gather 24/7 on the steps of the Superior Courthouse on Water Street. General Assemblies are held daily at 6pm, and on Sundays at 2pm in San Lorenzo Park.

So it behooves us, in the wake of Veterans Day, to discuss the city and county of Santa Cruz treatment of it's own.

This morning's Santa Cruz Senile mentions the fact that it was Veterans Day yesterday by featuring a front page picture of the parade in Watsonville, because not only does Santa Cruz not deem it fit to hold a parade for their Veterans, they and the county have been, dast I say (Dast!... Dast!...), actively hostile towards local Veterans, with the closure of the Bill Motto Post #1588 VFW building under suspicious circumstances and the now ongoing delay in getting the building repaired and reopened.

The building was, and WILL BE AGAIN, the home of the annual community Thanksgiving and Christmas day dinner for all. The county and city were lambasted last year for not making any plan for a replacement community meal venue until complaints by the community at large became too strident and the Civic Auditorium was used, on short notice, in what could only be described as a sterile and non-festive atmosphere.

The county and city's rationale for not acting sooner essentially boiled down to:

"It's not our problem, but since you whined...".

Just in case you wondered how much your city government cares about it's community.

They engaged in a drum circle in front of O'neil's Surf Shop across from the Cinema 9 theater on Pacific street in the heart of downtown Santa Cruz, with a group of traditional Lakota Sioux drummers, under a cabana, in the rain.

Rick Perry denies he ever spoke in favor of Texas secession from the United States. But records show he not only spoke in favor of secession, Perry spoke at a rally attended by secessionist leaders and a top Perry aide met with secessionist leaders privately. Perry went on to push for legislation favored by secessionists and others. One of the groups he sought the support of, the Republic of Texas militia, has a long history of terrorism, including plots to assassinate a Republican governor (later president), a Democratic president, attempted attacks on a US Army base and federal building, and attempts to acquire missiles and biological weapons.

Rick Perry's Ties to a Terrorist Militia

By JuanBatista

Wednesday November 2, 2011 - 9:20 pm

[...]These are the type of people Governor Rick Perry for a time chose to associate with and sought out their support.

(Summing up, the ROT militia is guilty of:)

Treason, seeking to overthrow the US and Texas governments by forcePlots to assassinate one American President and one Texas Governor (later a US President)Plotting to murder soldiers at an American Army basePlotting to murder federal employeesOver $1.5 billion in various forms of fraudThree kidnappingsThree other attempted murders, including of two policemenThree other assaults on policeNumerous threats against police and public officialsAttempts to acquire surface to air missiles, plastic explosives, and other military weapons including biological onesPaper terrorism using phony liens, court orders, summons, warrantsNumerous counts of forging passports, driver’s licenses, other documents

The ROT militia claims to have thousands of members statewide, and admits that some of the membership includes a “white supremacist faction.”[16]

Recall the phony charges against Obama in 2008 about “palling with terrorists” over serving on a committee with someone who, a quarter of a century early, had solely destroyed property.

But Rick Perry shared the stage with real terrorists, and sought their support. The ROT tried to assassinate a Democratic president and a Republican governor, murder police, soldiers, and civilians, force elected officials from office using threats, steal on a scale organized crime can only dream about, and intimidate any who disagree with them.[...]

Looks like Mayor Ryan Coonerty is AGAIN misusing his power with a Mayoral proclamation that sells both books at Bookshop Santa Cruz(ed. his family's business downtown) and tickets at NextSpace (ed. transient office worker rental space downtown).

Feathering his own nest? Heck, that's all he ever does.

Coonerty is the co-owner and co--founder of NextSpace.

He's used his mayoral proclamation to sell tickets to the speaking event his company is sponsoring AND the woman's book is sold in Bookshop Santa Cruz.

It might also be noted that Mayor Coonerty is married to the one of the owners of Dell Williams Jewelers, an old-line locally owned store downtown.

That may not sound like an 'issue' but it must be considered that his wife is also the current chairperson for the Santa Cruz Downtown Business Association.

And even while his engagement to a woman who chairs a merchant organization that is responsible for most of Santa Cruz city's tourist and student generated revenue was kept in near secrecy, mayor Coonerty voted on matters affecting the downtown shopping district.

To this day the "Boy Mayor", as he's referred to affectionately by those in the know and those who remember his father Neil Coonerty's corrupt so-called 'progressive' reign over Santa Cruz politics, STILL refuses to recuse himself on city council votes regarding their "Shopping Mall By The Sea" formerly known as the "Pacific Garden Mall".

The Santa Cruz City Council Agenda for November 08 2011 with his self-involved 'proclamation':

For more information about nepotism and corruption in Santa Cruz politics...

See how a member of the Santa Cruz city council actually attempted to have a local church pastor fired for attempting to feed the homeless at his church located across the street from a house owned by the councilwoman's daughter, despite the fact the pastor had ameliorated the city's alleged complaints, and documentation to the fact that Councilwoman Matthews did so on an official city letterhead, with nary a word to the council OR public, here:

"Sorry... Two Words" (That Describe How Corrupt A Local Government Official Can Be) - Santa Cruz California Edition

You might also want to peruse Becky Johnson's One Woman Talking for more 'dirt' on Santa Cruz city dealings and corruption.

"Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is auctioning the opportunity for a winning bidder and two guests to join him for a private lunch at his office in Washington, D.C.

Secretary Rumsfeld will personally give the winner and guests a tour of his office after lunch, which contains memorabilia, historic photos and more. They will also all receive a personally inscribed copy of his latest book, Known and Unknown.

Excerpt:

The UnknownAs we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don't know We don't know.—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

Auction proceeds will benefit the Rumsfeld Foundation.

Bidding on the experience, valued at $10,000, is open at http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/275001no

Uhh, so the “charity” is Donald Fucking Rumsfeld’s own foundation? A fucking TAX SCAM to continue enriching DONALD RUMSFELD?

Monday, November 7, 2011

«o»Backgrounder and link to the unsolicited 'permit' mentioned below Here

The cronies of the 1% of Santa Cruz got swarmed at city hall this afternoon...

At least 50 people from #OccupySantaCruz (California) marched to city hall today to deliver a mass vocal rejection of an ultimatum disguised as a 'non-commercial event permit' which would have limited the Occupier's autonomy and control over their encampment in San Lorenzo Park near the Santa Cruz County Court House, by the lovely banks of the San Lorenzo sewag... I mean "River" (really I do!) along with a number of other issues recounted at the background link above and in the rejection document authorized by the General Assembly that follows.

The crowd you see gathered above read the document in unison to city council members who were present and the city manager who had authorized the issuance of the 'permit'.

The city manager of Santa Cruz California claims that the police department 'serves at his pleasure'. In other words, the city council has delegated the day to day authority of the local police department to a hired manager.

Consensus among the Occupiers however is simply; Since the city manager is employed or fired at the city council's pleasure, they are indeed in charge of their own police force. Hence the attempt to trap these rats in their own lair for them all to hear the recited refusal to accept the regulations their manager was demanding of a first amendment related protest.

You could hear the reading of the following document all the way to the back of the City Hall complex:

[Click the image for a full size image in a popout window]

Meanwhile, about another 50 people stood by at the information center on Water Street, one of the busiest traffic routes in the city, near the court house steps, to protect a Geodesic Dome structure which had been erected to protect the #Occupy visitors center from inclement weather, only to have it threatened with forcible removal by the city authorities.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

According to various accounts from those present, when (General Anthony Clement) McAuliffe was told of the German demand for surrender (at the Battle of the Bulge, WWII) he said "nuts".

At a loss for an official reply, Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard suggested that his first remark summed up the situation well, which was agreed to by the others. The official reply was typed and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry, and his S-3, Major Alvin Jones, to the German delegation.

It was as follows:

To the German Commander.

NUTS!

The American Commander

Suffice it to say, the Germans were perplexed at the short reply. Harper offered an explanation of the meaning of the word to the Germans, telling them that in "plain English" it meant "Go to hell."[1] (source)

Uh, thanks City. I can see how this makes it easier politically for you to still bust homeless people in the park while ignoring our occupation, but since the need for usable public space is a small and important part of our occupation, we got that covered, thanks.

While neither the GA nor the individuals in the legal committee asked for the special event permit, nor for all the restrictions that come with it, thank you for the kind thought, but no thank you.

If you still would like to help (and to be sure, help without strings attached is certainly welcome), perhaps you could direct the city manager to direct the police to leave the occupation alone. We know you have no direct say over the county sheriffs, but perhaps your example will inspire the county supervisors to direct the sheriff to also leave the occupation alone.

In any case, thank you for thinking of us. While your help is welcome, we’ll be okay without you.

Of course #Occupations are not really a non-profit event, but a protest, and there were a number of other issues with the document, including the concept of 'permission to #Occupy' itself that caused the following letter to be voted affirmative in a near consensus.

It will be delivered tomorrow November 7 2011 at 3PM PST by the whole of #OccupySantaCruz not only to the city manager who actualized it, but the city council members, wherever they may be found at the city hall complex, to whom the city manager is answerable.

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Welcome to Auntie Imperial's News & Blog Review.

Auntie is one MEAN mama when it comes to news and other media about local, national, and global events... and the people who, by their actions and words, create those events, making the world around us a more dangerous, nastier place. No mercy!